Should you build your own LLM Pulse?
Track brand mentions, citations, sentiment, competitors, and AI referral traffic across major AI platforms
The core loop is a realistic weekend build: run a fixed prompt set against a model API, detect brand and competitor mentions, collect citations, and chart the results. The gap appears when you need dependable runs across many models, long-term evidence, team access, exports, alerts, and the broader visibility and reputation workflow.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build a local, single-user AI visibility tracker for one brand.
Use Node.js 22, TypeScript, Express, better-sqlite3, server-rendered HTML, and vanilla JavaScript.
Bind the app to localhost:4173 and provide one documented command for the first run.
Keep MODEL_BASE_URL, MODEL_API_KEY, and MODEL_NAME in .env and ship a safe .env.example.
Support one JSON chat endpoint configured entirely through those environment variables.
Document the endpoint contract and isolate it behind one small adapter so it can be replaced later.
Let the user configure one brand, aliases, three competitors, and up to 25 prompts.
Run prompts manually and on a weekly local schedule with a clear API budget limit.
Limit concurrency, retry transient failures, and keep failed prompts visible instead of dropping them.
Store every prompt, raw answer, model name, timestamp, latency, and error in SQLite.
Detect case-insensitive brand and competitor mentions using editable aliases.
Extract and normalize URLs from answers, then preserve the source answer for every citation.
Use one structured model pass to label brand sentiment as positive, neutral, negative, or absent.
Calculate mention rate, citation rate, competitor share of voice, and net sentiment with documented formulas.
Show current results, weekly trends, and a prompt-level evidence table on a compact dashboard.
Make every aggregate metric link back to the raw answers used to calculate it.
Export prompts, answers, mentions, citations, and weekly metrics as CSV files.
Add backup and restore commands for the SQLite database.
Do not add accounts, billing, teams, telemetry, web crawling, or an integration catalog.
Do not claim parity with managed multi-model collection, reputation workflows, traffic analytics, or production monitoring.
Write tests for alias matching, URL normalization, retry handling, and metric calculations.
Include a README with setup, API cost controls, data location, backup steps, and limitations.
Run the tests and production build before finishing, then list the exact commands used.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running.
What would building your own look like?
Run a fixed prompt set against one model API, store the answers, detect brand and competitor mentions and citations, and show weekly trends for one project.
What you will need
- one compatible model API key
- Node.js 22
- SQLite
- a scheduled local process
- a small API budget
Teams pay to keep large prompt sets running on schedule, preserve evidence over time, and analyze mentions, citations, sentiment, competitors, and traffic in one dependable workflow without maintaining the execution pipeline themselves.
xmanaged execution across the full model set
xlong-term historical comparisons and evidence
xreputation, source, traffic, and competitor workflows
xteam permissions, exports, alerts, and integrations
xproduction monitoring and support
Prefer something ready-made?
ElmoTracks mentions, citations and competitors across the major engines; sentiment and referral traffic are still on the road map.Open source↗License, setup, and limitations for each alternative.
How much does LLM Pulse cost?
- Monthly billing
- $58/mo$58/mo
- Per year
- $696/yr$696/yr
- Annual billing
- $588/yr16% cheaper than paying monthly
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$303/moR$3,073/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on LLM Pulse’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| starter weekly | $58/workspace≈ $58 | $49/workspace≈ $49 | 1 project; 50 prompts; 50 AI responses/week/model; 10 competitors. |
| growth weekly | $117/workspace≈ $117 | $98/workspace≈ $98 | 2 projects; 150 prompts; 150 AI responses/week/model; 15 competitors. |
| scale weekly | $354/workspace≈ $354 | $295/workspace≈ $295 | 5 projects; 450 prompts; 450 AI responses/week/model; 20 competitors. |
| scale+ weekly | $708/workspace≈ $708 | $590/workspace≈ $590 | 10 projects; 1,200 prompts; 1,200 AI responses/week/model; 20 competitors. |
| scale++ weekly | $1417/workspace≈ $1,417 | $1181/workspace≈ $1,181 | 15 projects; 2,400 prompts; 2,400 AI responses/week/model; 25 competitors. |
| starter daily | $91.12/workspace≈ $91.12 | $75.93/workspace≈ $75.93 | 1 project; 50 prompts; 50 AI responses/day/model; 10 competitors. |
| growth daily | $171.86/workspace≈ $172 | $143.22/workspace≈ $143 | 2 projects; 150 prompts; 150 AI responses/day/model; 15 competitors. |
| scale daily | $517.88/workspace≈ $518 | $431.57/workspace≈ $432 | 5 projects; 450 prompts; 450 AI responses/day/model; 20 competitors. |
| scale+ daily | $1036.91/workspace≈ $1,037 | $864.09/workspace≈ $864 | 10 projects; 1,200 prompts; 1,200 AI responses/day/model; 20 competitors. |
| scale++ daily | $2190.31/workspace≈ $2,190 | $1825.26/workspace≈ $1,825 | 15 projects; 2,400 prompts; 2,400 AI responses/day/model; 25 competitors. |
| enterprise | custom | - | Custom projects, prompt volume, refresh frequency, model coverage, data access, and support. |
Free tierno free tier; 14-day card-required trial on weekly Starter, Growth, and Scale only; daily plans and Scale+/Scale++ start immediately
Billing termsmonthly + annual (annual is billed for 10 months, effectively 2 months free); VAT/tax may be added
Additional costsAdditional AI models are sold as paid add-ons; public add-on rates are not disclosed.
verified 2026-10-20 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy LLM Pulse?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (multi-day). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild LLM Pulse?
Kinda. The core of LLM Pulse is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: managed execution across the full model set, long-term historical comparisons and evidence. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does LLM Pulse cost?
LLM Pulse costs about $58/mo (Starter Weekly, checked 10/20/2026), which is $588 per year.
What do I lose by replacing LLM Pulse?
Honestly: managed execution across the full model set; long-term historical comparisons and evidence; reputation, source, traffic, and competitor workflows; team permissions, exports, alerts, and integrations; production monitoring and support. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to LLM Pulse?
Yes: Elmo (Tracks mentions, citations and competitors across the major engines; sentiment and referral traffic are still on the road map.) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.